By Justus Kaiser, German, Nanyang MBA Participant, Intake 2011
Nanyang Business School (NBS) sent a team comprising of MBA students Akhil Mehta, Siddharth Sachdev, and myself to the third International Case Competition on the Strategic Value of IT in Management, held at CA World 2011, Las Vegas. CA Technologies is a leading IT management and software company, with headquarters in New York, and offices all over the world.
The competition started with thirty teams from Asia, North America and Europe divided across 5 regions. The teams first competed in regional rounds, then the five region winners along with the remaining top five teams, competed in the international finals. The Nanyang Business School (NBS) team competed against four other teams from India, China and Australia in the Asia region and was selected to compete in the international finals.
The international finals had a live case where the teams were required to suggest new revenue models for Visa (the credit card company) using their IT infrastructure capabilities and the data available to them. The finalists got the case two weeks before flying to Las Vegas to make a presentation without taking any outside help. Upon reaching Las Vegas, the teams were given a ‘twist’, 12 hours before the presentation and were required to make changes to the presentation to accommodate this twist.
The final competition itself was structured in two stages. In the first stage, all the ten teams were to present before a panel of Visa and CA executives and an academician. Out of the ten teams, six were selected to make the final presentation the next day. NBS team was adjudged as one the top six and moved to the ultimate round. In the final round, the teams presented in front of an eminent panel of judges comprising of the Chief Technology Officer of Visa, the President of CA Labs and the Dean of School of Business Administration, Oakland University. The NBS team eventually finished fifth (5th) in a glittering ceremony that included the entire leadership team of CA, including the CEO. The competition was won by University of Calgary.
From left to right, Akhil, Siddarth, and yours truly, Justus during the competition.
The final competition itself was structured in two stages. In the first stage, all the ten teams were to present before a panel of Visa and CA executives and an academician. Out of the ten teams, six were selected to make the final presentation the next day. NBS team was adjudged as one the top six and moved to the ultimate round. In the final round, the teams presented in front of an eminent panel of judges comprising of the Chief Technology Officer of Visa, the President of CA Labs and the Dean of School of Business Administration, Oakland University. The NBS team eventually finished fifth (5th) in a glittering ceremony that included the entire leadership team of CA, including the CEO. The competition was won by University of Calgary.
The competition was a great learning experience for the students as we worked on a live business case and presented it to the very people who were to implement the recommendations made. The detailed feedback for every team by the Judges was particularly helpful as it gave us an insight into the practical leadership thought process.
But of course the competition was not just all hard work but also had its fair share of fun for the team. Besides the many attractions of Las Vegas, we took time and attended a live ‘Matchbox 20’ concert which was part of the CA World 2011 conference. We also went on an exciting road trip to the Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon, and enjoyed an amazing experience of having an authentic American dinner in a ranch kitchen and listening to an ancient cowboy singing country music along with his guitar!
It was a great opportunity for us to be part of this competition, let alone, emerging as one of the finalists. Though we did not make it to the top, we were fortunate to have this experience and be mentored and guided by one of the amazing faculty members of Nanyang, Prof Vijay Sethi. I would say this experience in an international business case completion is one of the many highlights of being part of a diverse and highly talented group of Nanyang MBA students – an opportunity to excel and shine, inside and outside of the classroom.